


Facing Facts

by spoilmesweetie



Category: Rizzoli & Isles
Genre: 2021 the year of ancient unfinished fics seeing the light of day, F/F, Fluff, Jane being Jane, Maura taking it in her stride, overthinking and panicking, with a splash of Mama Rizzoli's meddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:48:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29093748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spoilmesweetie/pseuds/spoilmesweetie
Summary: After their recent undercover operation at Merch, Jane makes a realisation but she needs a little nudge to help her put her feelings into words.  And actions...
Relationships: Maura Isles/Jane Rizzoli
Comments: 5
Kudos: 81





	Facing Facts

**Author's Note:**

> So I started going through my old pen drives and folders full of half finished fanfic ideas, this being among them. This year, it's my aim to finally finish them. It's been more than a few years since I tried my hand with these two, so please be kind!

“What did you do?”

“What do you mean, what did I do?” Jane shot back on hearing her mother’s tone. She had questioned even answering the call and was already regretting it. 

A loud sigh came though the line. “I saw Maura today. She asked how you were, said she hadn’t seen you in a few days. And when she did see you, she said you were grouchy with her.” There was a pause during which Jane could hear her mother’s footsteps. She was pacing, building momentum as she spoke. “Poor girl asked what she might have done wrong.”

This time, it was Jane’s turn to sigh. She got up from the couch, heading in the direction of her kitchen. Pulling open the fridge, she retrieved a beer. Easily finding the bottle opener, she flicked off the top, not caring where it landed as she took a long drink.

“Know what I told her? Nothing. She did nothing wrong. Told her you were being an ass.”

Returning to her living room, Jane flopped back down onto the couch, years of practice meaning not a drop of beer was spilled. 

“So, am I right?”

“Yeah,” admitted the younger Rizzoli, albeit begrudgingly. There was no point in denying it. Maura had done nothing wrong. Maura had simply been Maura. And there was certainly nothing wrong with that.

“That’s what I thought,” said Angela. “Of course, Maura asked me not to say anything. But how could I not, when she looked so miserable?”

Jane’s heart clenched at the thought of Maura being so upset. Of her being the cause. 

“I told her you’d probably just been feeling a bit off and hadn’t meant to take it out on her.”

“What did she say, when you saw her?” asked Jane, sitting up a bit.

There was a pause before her mother spoke. “She said she’d barely seen you since your last case. Or if she had, you always had an excuse why you had to be somewhere else.” Another pause. “What happened Janie? If it’s not something she did, then what happened?”

“It’s nothing, Ma,” said Jane, taking another swig of her beer. “It’s just…it’s nothing.”

“Have you eaten today?”

The non-sequitur threw Jane for a moment. “What? No. Maybe. I might have had half a sandwich or something at lunch…”

“Okay, sit tight. Mama bear is on the way bearing leftovers.”

“Ma,” said Jane. “You really don’t have to do that.”

“Now she’d refusing food?” questioned the older Rizzoli. “Okay, now I know something’s wrong. Don’t go anywhere, I’m on my way.”

It was pointless to argue, Jane knew. Instead, she let herself sink further into the couch cushions, waiting for the inevitable. 

*

Angela Rizzoli regarded her daughter from her vantage point in the small kitchen of her apartment. She had arrived bearing a veritable buffet, but even this hadn’t drawn more than a tired smile from her daughter. Concentrating on heating up her offerings, she tried her best not to worry as Jane continued to stare blankly ahead. 

Quickly moving around the kitchen and plating up the food, she approached her daughter as one might a scared wild animal; slowly and with caution. Setting the plate on the table, she tugged the empty beer bottle from Jane’s grasp, replacing it with a fresh one.

“Oh. Thanks, Ma,” said the younger Rizzoli snapped from her reverie by the cool bottle in her hand. “Sorry, I was miles away.”

“Really, I never noticed,” smirked the older woman. She laid a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “You eat. I’m gonna tidy up and then we can maybe watch a movie?” She knew that telling Jane after eating, they would talk would only set her on the defensive. No, getting her daughter to speak was a dance Angela Rizzoli knew well. Sometimes, it was bold and brash and loud, full of demands and raised voices. Other times, it was quiet and required almost more patience than the older woman had. 

*

Out of the corner of her eye, Jane could see her mother looking at her with a worried expression. She knew she was going to have to say something. But what? How did she explain what was going on?

She continued to push the food around her plate, eating small bites here and there, but not having the stomach for more. “Hey!” she called as the plate was removed from the table in front of her.

“What? You’re not eating it. You’re murdering it, so it’s going in the fridge,” said Angela, taking the plate to the kitchen. Swiftly putting a cover over the plate, she returned to the couch, a bottle of beer for herself clutched in one hand. “Now, are you gonna tell me what’s going on in that head of yours?”

Jane sighed, looking away from her mother. “Ma…I can’t.”

Scooting closer to her daughter, Angela put her arm around the younger woman, pulling her to her. “Yes, Janie, you can. Come on, I’m your mother. You can tell me anything.”

“But what if you don’t like it?”

Letting out a bark of laughter, Angela shook her head. “I’ll learn to live with it,” she said simply, with a shrug. “There are a lot of things I don’t like; you and Frankie being cops, risking your lives everyday. Tommy having a criminal record. But I live with it. Whatever this is, Janie. I’ll live with this too.”

Taking a breath, Jane burrowed further into her mother’s embrace, hiding her face behind her curls. “I’m in love.”

The older Rizzoli smiled. “That wasn’t so hard was it? And being in love is no bad thing, sweetie.”

Sitting up a little straighter, Jane pulled back until she was able to look her mother in the eye. “You didn’t let me finish. I’m in love…with Maura.”

Her smile softening, Angela set her beer bottle on the table before reaching for her daughter’s fidgeting hands. “Like I said, being in love is no bad thing.”

“Ma, did you hear what I just said?”

“I’m not deaf, Janie,” chuckled the older woman. “I heard what you said.”

“But Ma,” breathed Jane. “It’s _Maura._ ”

Angela shook her head. “Yeah, Janie. I got that bit. I’m just not seeing where the down side is?” She squeezed the hands in her own. “She’s pretty, she’s funny, she’s super smart.”

For the first time in days, Jane found a genuine smile tugging at her lips. “Yeah, she is.” She paused, ducking her head. “So you don’t mind that she’s…you know?”

“I’m guessing you mean do I mind my little girl likes a girl?” Waiting until her daughter looked up, Angela pulled her daughter to her, wrapping her in a strong hug. “No, Janie. I don’t mind. I want you to be happy, is what I want. And whether that’s with a man, a woman or it’s just you and Joe Friday living it up, I don’t mind. Plus, just think, date her and we’ll have a doctor in the family.” She smiled against riotous dark curls as her daughter hugged her back just as fiercely. “That’s why you were worried about telling me?”

“Kinda, yeah,” mumbled Jane. 

“Idiot,” said the older Rizzoli, but with a smile. “So, if you’ve told me, is Maura next in line?”

Extracting herself from her mother’s embrace, Jane looked at her with wide eyes. “I mean…maybe? I don’t know. I just…She’s Maura, Ma and I’m…well I’m just me.”

“Hey!” admonished Angela. “You're not ‘just anything’ Jane Rizzoli. You are brave, you’re funny, you’re loyal. I mean, you’re also stubborn as hell and can be ass at times, but none of us are perfect,” she chuckled. “Janie, that woman is your best friend. She already likes you as you are. And she doesn’t think you’re _just_ anything.”

And therein lay the crux of it. Maura was her best friend. She could get along with people easily enough, had a few good friends, but none came close to Maura. Telling her of her feelings could mean losing her, and that terrified her.

“You’re thinking too much,” smiled Angela. “Come on, this is Maura we’re talking about. You think telling her you _like_ like her is going to have her running away in those fancy heels of hers? Like heck it is.”

“You don’t know that, Ma!” said Jane, stricken. “What if I tell her and she never wants to speak to me again?”

“Janie, you didn’t see her today,” said the older Rizzoli gently. “You didn’t see how upset she was at the thought she might have done something to make you angry or push you away. She’s not going to run, but keep treating her like this, and you might just push her. And hurt her while you’re doing it.”

The detective sighed. Her mother was right, though she was loathe to admit it. They both valued their friendship, and she hoped that no matter what happened, they valued it enough to salvage it. She burrowed herself back into her mother’s side, closing her eyes for a few moments as a strong arm wrapped around her shoulders. “I hate it when you’re right.”

*

Jane jumped on hearing a knock at her door, not having been expecting anyone. A glance at her mother and the guilty look on her face told her precisely who was standing outside her door. “Ma, what did you do?”

Already shifting to collect her purse from the kitchen, the older Rizzoli strategically put the kitchen worktop between them. 

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Ma! Is that Maura outside? Shit!” Her mother’s face couldn’t have looked any more guilty if he tried. “Did you call her?” She stalked around the counter. “You did it when I went to bathroom, didn’t you?”

“Jane?” came a soft voice from the other side of the door. “I’d like to say two things. One; yes, it me and two; your door isn’t exactly soundproof.”

Face to face with her mother, Jane scowled. She was seething. “How could you?” she asked, her voice hushed.

Angela placed her hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “Janie, breathe. All I said, is that you were feeling a bit off, and a night with your best friend seemed like it would be just the medicine you needed. What you tell her or don’t tell her is up to you.” She pulled the younger woman in for a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around her. “But whatever you choose to tell her or not, I love you.” She pulled back, placing a kiss to her daughter’s forehead. “Okay? I love you.”

Jane took a deep breath. “I love you to,” she finally choked out, her anger subsiding in the wake of her mother’s words. 

Stepping back, Angela walked towards the door, pulling it open. “Hey Maura! I’m just headed out. You two have a good night, and please try and get her to eat something.”

A little taken aback by the whirlwind exit of the elder Rizzoli, Maura remained where she stood on the doormat, looking to Jane for a sign she was welcome. 

“Hey,” offered Jane, weakly. “You coming in?”

Smiling brightly at the invitation, Maura stepped inside the small apartment. “I brought beer, and Cheetos. Though I don’t think that’s quite what your mother meant by eating something.”

The detective found a genuine smile once again creeping onto her features at the image of one Maura Isles actually going out to buy beer and Cheetos. “Don’t worry, she left some food in the fridge before she left,” she replied. “But beer and Cheetos sound better,” she grinned. She gestured to her fridge. “There’s a bottle of that white you liked at dinner last month in the fridge, if you want a drink?” It was more than she would normally spend on a single bottle of wine, but when she had seen it, she was too caught up in the memory of Maura smiling over the rim of her wine glass to pay the price much heed. 

“That would be lovely, Jane,” smiled the honey blonde. “Thank you.”

“You should probably open it though,” said Jane. “Can’t say I’m much of a dab hand with a corkscrew.”

Shaking her head, the medical examiner moved to retrieve the wine from the fridge, and to deposit the beers she had brought with her. As she moved around the small space, she could feel the darker haired detective’s eyes on her. “Are you okay?” she asked, straightening up.

Placing an empty wine glass on the counter as Maura approached, Jane took a breath before answering. “Yeah, I am.” She placed a hand awkwardly on the other woman’s upper arm. “I wanted to say sorry, for the past few days. I got caught up in my own head, overthinking things and…I shouldn’t have snapped at you like I did.”

“It’s okay,” said replied Maura. “We all need a little space sometimes. We are okay, though, aren’t we?” 

Jane looked down into the worried eyes locked on her own. “Yeah,” she breathed, giving the arm beneath her hand a gentle squeeze. “We’re good.” Whether that would be the case when she finally plucked up the courage was anyone’s guess, but for the moment, she was content to just enjoy the fact that Maura was here. 

*

“Jane, are you sure you’re okay?” asked Maura, shifting to pause the film they had put on. “Only, this is your favourite part and you haven’t even mouthed the words.” In all the times they had watched ‘The Italian Job’ Jane had never once failed to tell her, rather loudly, that they were ‘only suppose to blow the bloody doors off’.

The detective sighed. Maura was too observant for her own good at times. “I’m sorry, Maur. Guess I’m still a little caught up in my own head.” It hadn’t helped that since setting up camp on her couch, they had naturally migrated towards each other, as they so often did, which left her leaning against the other woman’s side. A delicate hand coming to tease through her curls certainly hadn’t made it any easier to concentrate on the movie.

“Would it help to talk about it?”

Jane gently removed the hand from her hair as she sat up a little, keeping hold of it as she turned to face more Maura more fully. “Maybe?”

Smiling softly, the other woman waited patiently.

“I really am sorry, you know,” started Jane, her gaze firmly on their joined hands. “That I was grouchy. It wasn’t anything that you had done. It was me…”

“You already said that bit,” said Maura, gently prompting. “What’s going on in that head of yours, hmm? You’ve got yourself tied up in knots.” She could see the tension in her friend’s shoulders, feel it radiating off her. She softened her voice. “Jane, you know you can tell me anything, don’t you? I’m not going anywhere.”

At this, Jane looked up. “You really mean that?”

Maura nodded. “I’m here. And unless you ask me to go, I will always be here.”

Jane let out a long, shuddering breath. “I hope so.” She gasped as a delicate hand tucked an unruly curl behind her ear. She let her eyes take in every little bit of the other woman’s face. She truly was beautiful. “I love you,” she breathed, so quietly she was barely even sure she had given voice to the words. She knew they had been heard, however, when Maura’s eyes widened. 

“Oh, Jane,” said Maura, lips curling up even further. “That’s what all this has been about?”

Dropping her gaze once more to their joined hands, Jane forced herself to continue. “No, Maura. I don’t think you get it. I don’t just love you. I think I’m _in love_ with you.” There was a silence, and the longer it stretched, the more nervous she was to look up. Of what she might see when she did. Taking a shaky breath, she slowly raised her eyes to find Maura beaming back at her. “Maur? Say something.”

Words didn’t come, but Jane was quite sure she almost fainted as soft lips pressed were pressed against her own. Her eyes fluttered shut at the chaste press of lips.

“I’ve told you before, that I love you.”

Eyes still closed, Jane’s memory offered up the words. “I like Tommy, but I _love_ you.” Offered just as easily then as they were now. 

“Maura, there’s a difference,” said Jane, needing to be sure what she was hearing was what she thought she was hearing. She opened her eyes, silently pleading. 

Still smiling, and not quite knowing how she could have gotten quite so lucky, Maura nodded. “I know. So let me be clear. Not only do I love you, Jane Rizzoli. I am in love with you, and have been for quite some time.” She watched as tears gathered in her friend’s eyes, and gently extricated her hands, cupping her friends cheeks. “So now that we’ve cleared that up, I’d like to think that’s a rather good reason to kiss you again.”

Jane pulled back abruptly. “What? Just like that? You love me?”

Maura watched as her friend sprung up from the couch, pacing in front of the still frozen image on the TV. “Yes, Jane. I love you. Have for some time, truth be told I could probably give you an approximate, but accurate date if you let me fetch my planner.” She continued to watch Jane’s frantic pacing. “What were you expecting me to say? I never wanted to see you again? That I’d ‘freak out’?”

“Honestly, yeah!” exclaimed the detective. 

Standing to join the other woman, Maura held up her hands. “Fine, if it would make you feel better, what level of freak out should I be having? Would you like me to join you in some pacing? Should I ramble? Leave, even? Only to come back in some dramatic fashion?” She stepped forward, catching Jane’s hands in her own and waiting until she had her full attention. “Or should I just tell you once again, quite simply, that I love and am in love with you, Jane.” She paused, finding herself blushing as she continued. “Having analysed my own physiological and psychological responses to you, it’s not a new realisation for me. So I’m sorry to disappoint you but there will be no dramatic eruptions in terms of my reaction. No soul searching and asking for space while I consider my feelings.” She shook her head. “No, of them I’m quite sure. So, just in case you missed the memo; I love you Jane Clementine Rizzoli, you wonderful, brave, charming idiot!” 

Fully aware that her mouth was hanging open, Jane found herself at a complete loss for words. How could it be that only hours ago, she was worried Maura would never want to speak to her again, and here she was calling her a charming idiot and telling her in no uncertain terms that she was in love with her?

“Breathe, Jane,” said Maura gently, dragging the darker haired woman back to the present. She smiled as the detective sucked in a shuddering breath. “Better. Now, why don’t we just sit, put the movie back on and take some time to let this all sink in?” When she got no answer, she tugged the taller woman by their joint hands back towards the couch. Settling in the corner of the couch, her back against the armrest, she pulled Jane down to rest against her where she could easily wrap her arms around her. Waiting until the taller woman began to relax, her body slowly softening against her own smaller frame, Maura pressed play on the remote. 

Leaning her cheek against the curls of the woman below, she grinned into the semi-darkness. Jane loved her. She was aware of the movie playing on but paid it no heed. She had kissed her best friend, and she would be doing it again. Soon, if she got the choice.

“Maura?”

“Mmmhmm?”

“Does this mean you’re my girlfriend?”

Looking down at the hopeful expression on her friend’s face, Maura raised an eyebrow. “Well now that depends. If I say yes, does that mean I get to kiss you?” Even in the dim light of the TV, she could see the blush spread across Jane’s cheeks.

“I’d like that,” she whispered in reply. 

Placing a hand on Jane’s cheek, Maura waited as she wriggled against her until they were face to face. She smiled into the kiss as the darker haired woman met her halfway. Lips moved softly against lips as they each adjusted to the new sensation. Letting her want guide her, Maura slid both hands into Jane’s hair, blunted nails scratching lightly against her scalp and causing her to squirm against her. 

Pulling back, she took a moment to simply look at Jane, cataloguing each detail of her face. Seeing no signs of distress or discomfort, she leant in for another kiss, this time letting her tongue sweep across Jane’s lower lip, asking permission. Grinning as it was granted, she felt Jane adjust her position, and found herself trapped between the taller woman’s body and the arm of the couch. All in all, not a bad position to be in.

Jane broke their kiss to take in a shuddering breath. “I think I like having you as my girlfriend.”

Taking in the adorable expression on her friend’s face, Maura felt a rather uncharacteristic giggle bubble up. “Then I’m pleased to tell you, the feeling is mutual.”


End file.
